By Franklin College staff
The Franklin College Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies Program hosted its White Coat Ceremony on Dec. 15, 2022. The college’s cohort of 22 PA students from the class of 2024 received their white coats and recited a medical oath before family and friends inside Custer Theatre in Old Main on the Franklin College campus. The ceremony is the halfway mark of the 25-month, full-time program. Gregory Strock, M.D., program medical director and adjunct assistant professor of physician assistant studies, also addressed the guests, explaining the symbolism of the ceremony as a rite of passage welcoming students into healthcare practice by providing a white coat signifying professionalism and humanistic patient care. At Franklin College, it marks the transition from the didactic year to the clinical year and the beginning of clinical rotations. The ceremony is the fourth for Franklin College. The program’s fifth cohort of PA students will begin their studies in January 2023.
Students receiving their white coats from the Center Grove/Johnson County area include: Nathanael Boone of Greenwood and Greenwood (he completed his undergraduate degree at Taylor University) and Sydney Logsdon, Franklin (she completed her undergraduate degree at Franklin College as well).
Franklin College received Accreditation-Provisional for the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies (MSPAS) program in the fall of 2018 and enrolled its first cohort in January 2019. The college’s MSPAS program is a 25-month course of study. Graduates are eligible to take the Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) and become licensed as a physician assistant in any state.
The Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies is made possible by a nearly $1 million grant awarded to the college in 2014 from the Lilly Endowment, as part of its Initiative to Promote Opportunities Through Educational Collaborations. It is the second master’s program launched by the college.
Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies
Program, was held inside Custer Theatre in Old
Main on the college’s campus.
The ARC-PA has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Franklin College Physician Assistant Program sponsored by Franklin College. Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students. Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class.
The program’s accreditation history can be viewed on the ARC-PA website at arc-pa.org/accreditation-history-franklin-college/.
